BY MAYOWA SAMUEL
The Labour Party has said it will implement a minimum wage of between N80,000 and N100,000 if the party wins next year’s presidential elections.
This is coming days after the party unveiled its long-awaited manifesto by its presidential candidate Peter Obi who touted the payment of hourly wages as against the current monthly format in the country.
Speaking on a national television monitored in Lagos, on Thursday, the party’s Deputy National Chairman, Ayo Olorufemi, said the LP is looking at implementing a new minimum wage of between N80,000-N100,000 as against the N30,000.
“It depends on the nature of the job that would be given out. For instance, when you take a cursory look at the manual labour out there, a labourer does not take less than N2,500-N3,000 per day which is still not okay as far as the reward system is concerned. If you divide N3,000 by six hours, you will be talking about N500 per hour,” he said on the show.
“So, when you benchmark that against what we have now, certainly, you would be talking of something within the range of N500-N1,000 per hour depending on the nature of work, and at the end of the day, someone can effectively say that he can make up to N4,000 in a day. And when you multiply N4,000 in a day by 20 or 25, we are talking about N80,000 or N100,000 in a month.”
When asked to further clarify his comment, the LP chieftain maintained that the party is eyeing “N80,000-N100,000” as a new minimum wage, noting that “that is exactly where we are going!”
According to him, the present N30,000 minimum wage does not reflect the realities, saying the Labour Party would pluck holes and exploit new ways to ensure the new wage structure is implemented if the party wins next year’s polls.